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EDEN — Kindergartner Abbey Corbin’s poster featured pictures of her grandfather, who served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1973.

Don’t think that anyone had to remind her why people consider Barry Cochran a hero.

“Because he fought for our country,” Abbey said as she and her classmates at Draper Elementary School prepared to march behind the Morehead High School Junior ROTC.

The 6th Annual Veteran’s Day parade here had none of the fireworks or the thousands of people that sometimes gather in big cities to honor the country’s veterans.

But with schoolchildren awash in red, white and blue and veterans dressed in crisp, decades-old uniforms, there couldn’t have been a more patriotic part of the world Tuesday than Freedom Park in Eden, where Abbey and the whole school gathered.

Here, the parade marking the observance isn’t just a procession, it’s a community event — with the mile between the school and the park lined, if sporadically, with mothers pushing strollers and men in their pickups, watching and waving. More than 300 in this youngest generation led the day.

“It makes me real proud that they would want to honor somebody like me,” Dan Starrett, an Air Force veteran of the Vietnam and Cold War eras, said at his first Freedom Park parade.

In bright red and blue, first-graders Brista Vincent and Jakayla Harris wrote “Happy Veterans Day” and “We Are Proud of You” in large letters on the poster they jointly carried. Each knows someone currently serving in the military.

“They protect us,” Brista said as the girls mentioned the people in their families who have served in the military.

Over the past few weeks, the children either interviewed relatives or sent out questionnaires to veterans in the community, asking about medals and years of service. They then made posters for each of the veterans who returned the form.

“It’s so touching to see how these kids just wrapped themselves into this project,” said Cindy Adams, Eden’s tourism coordinator.

Former Marine David Barker walked with son Samuel, who drew a giant airplane along with the settings for the  “air, land and sea” motto of his dad’s branch of military service.

“He’s a veteran,” the second-grader said proudly as the senior Barker beamed.

Theodore Mills walked with his grandmother, Desiree Morris, an Iraqi war veteran in her first parade.

“It’s been hard,” said Morris, who spent 27 years in the Air Force, the lettering of which she proudly displayed on her shirt. “I’ve known people who have died” in Iraq.

Draper principal Tammy Heath sees benefits for the children beyond the annual ceremony.

“It gives them pride for their country and it shows them how to respect others,” Heath said.

The expected rain remained at bay as the schoolchildren settled in at Freedom Park, while Kennedy Tinsley, president of the Draper student council, led the gathering in the Pledge of Allegiance. Students Najia Johnson and Jonah Hazelwood led the crowd in “The Star-Spangled Banner” and Gavin Dehart, Stephany Adon and Shantel Gill led their classmates in the song, “Proud of Our Veterans.”

Watching them were sisters Margie Frazier and Ruby West, who had six brothers, their husbands and two grandchildren serve in the military. The women, in striped red and white pants, blue shirts with stars and tall Uncle Sam hats, proudly waved their flags alongside the children.

“We need to always show support to our veterans and the men and women who continue to protect us,” said West, who made their outfits.

Retired helicopter pilot and Army Lt. Col. Donald Atkins wore a green 82nd Airborne flight jacket covered in service patches. School children circulating the park in search of veterans handed him a red, white and blue carnation.

“We didn’t always get this praise and recognition and I’m thoroughly enjoying this,” said Atkins, recalling his return from Vietnam, one of the country’s most divisive wars.

“I’m also thankful that they’re recognizing our current men and women in the military,” said Atkins, whose son-in-law recently served in Afghanistan.

Korean War veteran Nelson Hairston spoke to the crowd about what military service people go through — including the snakes that would sometimes slither under their covers as they slept.

“You can’t begin to imagine ... how we as veterans braved through the heat of the day, the cold of the night, slept in bunkers, fox holes (while we) carried our rifles,” Hairston said. “While you were back home ... we did everything we could to protect you.”

Which made third-grader Giavanna Vicario’s words even more meaningful to people like Hairston.

“They’re so brave,” Giavanna said.

Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com